The incidence of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL), which is endemic in several parts of Iran, has recently increased in the rural areas of the northern district of Damghan, in Semnan province. Between 2001 and 2004, as part of an investigation of this worrying trend, wild rodents in this region were caught and checked, by the microscopical examination of liver and spleen smears, for leishmanial infection, to see which species were acting as 'reservoir' hosts. Overall 298 Nesokia indica, 29 Meriones libycus, 10 Mus musculus and two Microtus socialis were caught. Most of the N. indica (61%) and Me. libycus (52%) but none of the other rodents were found smear-positive for leishmanial amastigotes. When PCR was used to test scrapings from 50 of the smears (of which 25 had been found to harbour amastigotes, by microscopy), 29 (58%) of the smears were found positive for the kinetoplast DNA of Leishmania major; none was found positive for any other Leishmania species. Nesokia indica and Me. libycus are therefore incriminated as the main 'reservoir' hosts of L. major in Damghan.

No abstract

Background: Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major is endemic in 17 of 31 Iranian provinces. Various species of rodents have been introduced as the main reservoirs of the disease. This study was conducted to de­termine the natural infection of hedgehogs with Leishmania spp. in an endemic area of the disease, northern Iran. Methods: Fifteen long-eared hedgehogs were captured alive during 18 months study period, from Apr 2015 to Sep 2016, in Damghan City, Semnan Province, Iran. The animals were identified using apparent characteristics and to de­termine the Leishmania infection, impression smears were prepared from their ear lobes, hind feet, livers, and spleens. Micro­scopic examination and semi-nested PCR were applied to determine the infection and to identify the parasites species respectively. Results: All examined animals were identified as Hemiechinus auritus (Family: Erinaceidae). In microscopic examina­tion, 8 (53.3%) samples were shown to be infected with Leishmania parasites. The higher and lower rate of the infection was observed in the ears as well as the feet and in the liver specimens, 53.3%, and 33.3% respectively. Forty percent (6/ 15) of the samples were molecularly positive and all were identified as L. major parasites. All the examined animals in au­tumn and 50% of them in summer were shown to be infected with Leishmania parasites. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the natural infection of H. auritus with L. major for the first time in Damghan City and introduced these mammals as new potential reservoirs of ZCL in the study area.

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the major causes of physical and mental disabilities, which are preventable and treatable. This study aimed to investigate physical growth and to evaluate the effectiveness of performed therapeutic interventions on normality of serum T4 and TSH levels in children with CH of Yazd city. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed on all neonates with CH, who were born during years 2006 and 2008. The growth pattern of height, weight and head circumference during the first five years of children with CH and the effectiveness of performed therapeutic interventions on normality of serum T4 and TSH levels were evaluated. The collected data were analyzed using the 22nd version of the SPSS software. Results: The pattern of height, weight, and head circumference of the girls with CH was comparable with the growth pattern of NCHS of healthy individuals. The pattern of height and weight growth of boys with CH gradually became similar to the growth pattern of NCHS of healthy boys. However, there was a decline in their head circumference growth trend after six months of age. Also it was revealed that therapeutic interventions had an appropriate effect on normalization of serum TSH, T4 levels and growth pattern in CH children under treatment. Conclusions: After treatment and care for these patients, the growth patterns and serum T4 and TSH levels of these children reached a normal and desirable range.